Phantom Point
by Gary Inbinder
Chapter 29: Offers
part 2
Max spotted Eve at the balustrade, gazing toward Phantom Point. She heard his footsteps on the gravel pathway, turned to him, shaded her eyes with her hand and smiled. “Hi, Max. Did you enjoy your lunch with the patrón?”
Max came next to her before answering. “Do I detect a hint of irreverence directed at our host and employer?”
“Do you think my reference to John Merwin as our patrón is irreverent? I’d say it’s descriptive. After all, he is the undisputed lord of Santa Teresa county, viewing his domain from his castle on high.”
“All right, kid. Have it your way.” Max leaned against the balustrade and gazed into her eyes. “So, I’m off for Chicago. You want to tell me what’s on your mind?”
“I’ll tell you, if you tell me what’s on yours. For starters, what was on the menu besides fish?”
“The patrón made me an offer a smart guy wouldn’t refuse.”
“So being smart, you accepted?”
“No, being dumb, I refused.”
“Do you mind telling me why?”
Max shook his head. “I don’t mind. He offered me a job as head of security for the Phantom Point oil field for more dough in the first year than I usually make in three. But I know what he and his syndicate want, expect and demand. I’d lead a gang of tough guys who’d keep the workers in line, spy on potential trouble-makers, roust union organizers, that sort of thing. Hire informers among the workers to rat out their pals and bring in strike-breakers, if necessary. That’s not my kind of work. You see, Chicago Max may not be as mercenary as some people think.”
“I thought Chicago Max was your dark side, and The Hawk was the modern knight errant. To me, it sounds like the sort of thing Chicago Max would do, for the right price.”
“I’ll let you in on a secret. Even my dark side isn’t that dark. But don’t spread it around. As Machiavelli said, ‘It’s better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.’”
“And you don’t think you can be feared and loved?”
“Not in my racket. At least, not if you want to survive.” Max turned away from her and looked out to sea.
Eve considered his answer for a while before saying, “He made me an offer, too.”
Max looked to her and said, “Was it a good one?”
“Yes, it was. An offer a smart gal wouldn’t refuse.”
Max smiled. “So being an especially smart gal, you accepted?”
“No, being reasonably smart, I said maybe.”
“Are you going to tell me what he offered, or do you want me to guess?”
“He proposed marriage. Do you have an opinion on the subject?”
“Do you mean on the subject of marriage in general, or on the subject of your marriage to John Merwin?”
Eve sighed. “I mean this particular marriage proposal.”
“I don’t know, kid. Do you like him?”
“He has many fine qualities.”
“Yes, he does. Millions of them.”
“That’s not fair, Max.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. What do you want me to say?”
She looked at him for some time without speaking. To Max she seemed elusive, but her eyes communicated her feelings in the way women in certain cultures express emotion silently through their eyes alone while the remainder of the face is covered by a veil or a fan. She waited for Max to say something, but he remained silent. Finally, she said, “I don’t love him.”
“I see. You told me you’re a modern American girl. Do modern American girls marry men they don’t love?”
“No, they don’t.” She turned away from him and looked back at Phantom Point.
Max put his hand on her shoulder gently. “Did you ever wonder if Phantom Point was just an illusion, like El Dorado?”
Eve spoke a few lines without looking back at him:
And o’er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
“That’s Poe, isn’t it?”
She nodded without speaking. Then she said, “You don’t love me, do you?” She turned around. There were tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Eve. I owe you my life. That’s a debt I can never repay. But I’m going back to Chicago, a small apartment and a dangerous business. Someday I might come up against a guy who’s a bit smarter or quicker than I am, and that’ll be it. My insurance will pay for the funeral and not much more. It’s a dirty racket, kid. Get out of it while you can.”
“We could work together, Max. We make a great team.”
“We do, that’s for sure. But I’ve got a kid working for me now. His name’s Joey. He’s a good kid. I picked him off the streets. If I brought in a new partner, he might feel hurt, like he was being left out. I can’t do that to him.”
“That’s a good excuse — I suppose.”
“All right, it’s an excuse.” Max frowned. His voice hardened. “Here’s another. I can’t send you out on the streets and leave you vulnerable to the risks of our profession. You’ve already seen and done a lot. You drive a car like a demon and you didn’t flinch from shooting Placco to death. That’s all well and good. But you haven’t seen the worst of this job, not by a long shot.”
“That’s final?”
“I’m afraid it is.”
“I see.” She looked away for a moment, then looked back at him and said, “I guess you’d better go. You don’t want to miss your train.”
He checked his watch. “You’re right. Why don’t you come down to the depot? Rivers and Riley will be there to see me off.”
“We better say goodbye here.”
“OK. There’s one thing I’d like to ask before I go. Since you have some pull with the boss, could you ask him to give the artists a square deal? They’re not a bad bunch, and I’ve seen their work. It’s good, at least it is in my opinion.”
Eve smiled. “I’m way ahead of you. John’s already agreed to buy some of their paintings, and he’ll let them stay rent-free on another of his scenic properties. One that doesn’t have oil or anything else of value besides the view. He thinks this will enhance his reputation as a patron of the arts. Someday he might even donate his collection to an art museum.”
“Take care of yourself, kid. Maybe we’ll meet again, sometime.” Max smiled and held out his hand for a friendly shake.
“You never know. Have a good trip to the Windy City.”
Max went back up the path to the driveway, where Karl was waiting with the Mercedes. Eve watched him for a while, then turned to gaze wistfully at Phantom Point.
* * *
Merwin watched Max and Eve from a tower window. When he saw Max leave her with a handshake and nothing more, he smiled and returned to his office to wait for an important telephone call from his Los Angeles business associates.
Copyright © 2022 by Gary Inbinder
